The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill

Ellie Sweet is a lot of things—good girl, novelist, silent adorer of the new boy at school, Palmer. But when “outcast” gets added to the list, she decides it’s time to take reality into her own hands … and tweak it as needed.

I almost never use the bookmark feature on my Kindle, but I couldn’t help but make a note of all the times Stephanie Morrill’s Ellie Sweet made me groan or grin. This one made me laugh out loud:

“I turn away and bury my burning face in my math book. Now would be a really good time for the rapture.” {And you’ll just have to read the book to discover what embarrassing moment takes place prior to that stupendous statement.}

That voice is one of the things I like best about this novel: Ellie Sweet can be as true to her last name as can be, but at other times she can be downright hilarious.

“‘Go away,’ I murmur, as if a headache can be sweet talked. ‘I have a book to get published.'”

The story of this teen writer drew me in immediately because I can relate; I was a teen writer. Ellie attends high school, hangs out with the popular crowd (well, sort of), and is hard at work revising her novel so she can submit it to a great big writer’s contest. (Which totally hit home for me and made me sympathize with Ellie all the more since I entered the Genesis this year.)

“I’ve noticed, since I started studying writing, that it’s hard to lose myself to reading.”

She’s a dedicated writer who is not only working on writing and preparing to take this big step of entering a contest, but she’s also reaching out for advice (she has a mentor) and studying the craft. Stephanie does a superb job of getting this across while not slowing the story down. There’s a lot more to this novel than Ellie working on a novel.

For instance, her best friend receives devastating news that foretells serious consequences for Ellie. There are two very different guys in the picture. And there’s the very big deal that Ellie has kinda sorta based the main cast of characters in her medieval (woot!) book on people she knows–which spells very bad news. I’m looking forward to the sequel!

There are a few mentions of a partying lifestyle, but Ellie, a Christian, does a good job of staying away from all that. To be honest, I winced when I realized she was considering a relationship with a guy who is not a Christian. Other than that, though, this is a clean novel with a lot of take-away value (without any essence of “preaching”).

I recommend The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet to all of my writer friends, teen or otherwise. Whether or not you started writing while still a teen, you can still relate to Ellie’s struggles to learn the craft, revise her story, and deal with rejection.

For those who are not writers but enjoy a solid YA novel, check outEllie’s story. The underlying theme is a great one:

“‘You can’t control what people are going to say, and paying too much attention to it can cost you your dreams.'”– Ellie’s aunt

Oh, to be immortalized in the written word! Must be really cool to be a character in a book! <br /><br />I agree about dating a party boy(s), but I have high hopes for the next book.<br /><br />Like your review!!<br /><br />Cynthia<br /><a href="http://christianteenbooksandreviews.blogspot.com/&quot; rel="nofollow">who YA reading?</a><br /><br />